Neurobiological Mechanisms of Adaptation in Relation to Models of Psychobiological Development

Abstract

Once defined by anatomical features or electrical activity, neural systems in the brain can now be discriminated by neurochemical techniques. The neurons in each system synthesize and release or store specific chemicals to excite subsequent cells in their respective pathways. For several years my colleagues and I (and others in other laboratories) have been studying a number of macromolecular adaptive changes affecting the function of adrenergic and serotonergic transmission in the brain. In the former, norepinephrine is thought to be related to states of arousal, attention, and perhaps to mood; in the latter, serotonin has been implicated in involuntary vascular functions, emotional memory, and moods of sexuality and rage.

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